Hideo Nomo Rumors

Nomo won 78 games in Japan in five seasons, and then exploited a loophole and retired from Japanese baseball. He was a phenomenon in ’95, coming over as a free agent to win the ROY with the Dodgers as a 26 year-old. He ended up winning 123 big league games.

Fun transaction today, as the Royals inkedHideo Nomo to a minor-league contract. Nomo was the first Japanese player to make a major MLB impact, bursting on the scene in 1995 as a 26 year-old and winning Rookie of the Year. He missed the ’07 season due to surgery, and hasn’t pitched in the bigs since ’05.

Over a year ago, I attempted to compile a list of all Japanese players who’d come to the Majors. I also included a spreadsheet ranking their contributions. It needs some updating, but check it out.